Gators entering season-opener with just six available scholarship receivers
On Wednesday afternoon, Florida head coach Jim McElwain said that C.J. Worton (high ankle sprain) would miss Saturday’s season-opener against UMass in The Swamp.
Without Worton, Florida will have just six available scholarship receivers this weekend. McElwain shared the number with the media Wednesday but declined to disclose which senior on the roster is suspended for the season-opener after saying Monday that an undisclosed senior would miss the game. However, every senior on scholarship besides wide receiver Chris Thompson was listed on Florida’s depth chart on Monday.
With freshmen wideouts Tyrie Cleveland and Rick Wells suspended for the season-opener due to their summer arrests involving an incident with BB guns on campus – and redshirt freshman receiver Kalif Jackson still sidelined with an injury – the Gators will enter Saturday’s contest presumably with just sophomore Antonio Callaway, juniors Dre Massey and Brandon Powell, senior Ahmad Fulwood, and freshmen Freddie Swain and Joshua Hammond available at the position.
"Worton will not go," McElwain said. "He won't dress. He tried a little bit and couldn't get through it, so other than that, looks like we're in pretty good shape."
Meanwhile redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Khairi Clark went down in Wednesday's practice with an ankle injury. "Don’t know where that is," McElwain added.
Redshirt senior defensive end Bryan Cox pulled himself out of Wednesday's practice with an injury but should be OK to play this weekend, according to McElwain.
MORE NOTES FROM MCELWAIN'S WEDNESDAY PRESSER
--McElwain said that no walk-ons will be awarded scholarships before the start of the 2016 regular season. “Well, you know what, I wish we could give them all scholarships. On a positive note, our roster’s full. That’s a good thing. It’s probably another reason we’ve got such a young team. And yet there’s a lot of deserving guys with that, and yet there’ll be some who get a few snaps on Saturday. And you know what, that’s exciting. And I’m proud of them.”
--McElwain discussed further why he declined to officially disclose who the suspended senior was and got off on an impassioned rant on the topic. "Yeah, you know what, I'm here to educate, I'm here to help and I'm here for our players. No. 1 first and foremost. And these are good players and good guys that sometimes make choices that aren't the greatest, and yet I'm never going to be here to, ever ... I'm here for them and learning from our choices and the decisions we make. That's really what it's all about, and sometime when you have your own kids, I'm here to protect them too. And they're kids. So, you know what, they're good kids that sometimes some of the things we do, maybe we're not real proud of. And we've got to learn. It's no different than when you were a kid and you touched the hot stove. My guess is you didn't go back and touch it again. You probably learned from it, right? So there's your reason. And these are good players and good kids, and they mean well. Don't ever forget that. Because we write the negative all the time."
--McElwain said that tight ends Moral Stephens and Camrin Knight will see a good number of reps this weekend with DeAndre Goolsby playing banged up and C'yontai Lewis suspended for the opener. "I'm really excited about that. Those two guys deserve it the way they've been practicing."
--McElwain said Monday and Tuesday's practices were "really, really good" but that Wednesday's was "just OK." "Obviously, we're a little ahead in preparation, just 'cause normally, for a first game, we start the week before a little bit toward the end of the week. You could see the carry-over. Today was just OK, third down, red area. We've got to get back and kind of screw down the plan a little bit and make sure it's ready to go when our guys get it."
--McElwain on freshman defensive lineman Jachai Polite: "Jachai, that guy's a good football player. He's very smart, very intelligent and he picked it up quickly. Obviously, as you guys see him walk by, size wise, he fits what you're looking for and he's really a good athlete. He played both ways. He was a really good basketball player in high school as well. He's a rising star for us as the program goes forward."
--On the incoming Tropical Storm Hermine: "Well, like I said, that's part of what we talked about in doing that the way we did it during (camp), trying to prepare them for whatever's out there. And yet it's something that's not in our control. But we'll be prepared one way or the other. As far as I know they haven't moved the game. It would be nice if they told me, I guess. We haven't moved the game yet? So it's still a 7:30 tip? OK, good, so I'm good with that."
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